THE WAY AHEAD IN AFGHANISTAN - Lawrence University › mw › fkqhvjtkvc.pdf · THE WAY AHEAD IN AFGHANISTAN. THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2014 5 December 2014 Volume 91,

TWITTER IS A COCKTAIL PARTY

PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION DECEMBER 2014

COLLEGE RANKINGS: BOON OR BANE? EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT

THE WAY AHEAD IN AFGHANISTAN

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2014 5

December 2014Volume 91, No. 12

FOREIGN SERVICE

AFSA NEWS

Call for Nominations: 2015-2017 AFSA Governing Board / 41

Proposed Bylaw Amendment to Rightsize AFSA Governing Board / 42

State VP Voice: Mental Health and the Foreign Service / 44

USAID VP Voice: Promotions, ‘Promo-gate’ and Progress on Transparency / 45

Retiree VP Voice: It’s That Gift-Giving Time of Year / 46

AFSA on the Hill: Advocacy Builds Relationships / 47

Reflecting on Good Stewardship / 48Pres. Silverman Addresses

Local Groups / 49AFSA Acts to Protect Integrity

of FS Assignments System / 50Why Ethics Matter / 55

COLUMNSPresident’s Views / 7The Departed B Y R O B E R T J . S I LV E R M A N

Letter from the Editor / 8EngagementB Y SHAWN DORMAN

Speaking Out / 17Twitter Is a Cocktail Party, Not a Press Conference (or, Social Media for Reporting O�cers)B Y WREN ELHAI

Reflections / 101Unpacking MemoriesB Y D O U G L A S E . M O R R I S

DEPARTMENTSLetters / 10Talking Points / 12Books / 90Local Lens / 102

MARKETPLACEClassifieds / 94Real Estate / 97Index to Advertisers / 100

On the cover: Some of the 6,000 spectators who filled the newly built Afghanistan Football Federation stadium to watch the home side defeat Pakistan 3-0 on Aug. 20, 2013. Less than a month later, the national team defeated India to capture the 2013 South Asia Football Federation Championship. The success of the soccer team has been one of the bright spots and a point of pride and national unity for the country. Credit: Casey Garret Johnson. More of his photos are at caseyjohnson.photoshelter.com.

FOCUS ON AFGHANISTAN

Will History Repeat Itself? / 20 Afghanistan is at another turning point. Though the challenges are great, the nation cannot a¢ord to cycle back into civil war.B Y E D M U N D M C W I L L I A M S

Five Things We Can Still Get Right / 26 E¢ective U.S. leadership is more important than ever in Afghanistan. What policies should we adopt to help as Afghans take the reins of their own country?B Y DAV I D S E D N E Y

What U.S. Policymakers Should Know About Afghanistan Today / 33 Afghanistan’s emergence as a modern nation will involve negotiating a cultural transition that integrates enduring traditions with viable change.B Y S C OT T S M I T H

EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT

American College Rankings: How They Work and What They Mean / 56

This in-depth look at U.S. college rankings o¢ers a fresh perspective on the high school student’s college search and a wealth of resources to help find the “right” school.B Y F R A N C E S C A K E L LY

Have You Considered Boarding School? / 80The boarding school option has much to o¢er Foreign Service kids.B Y L AW R E N C E J E N S E N

Schools at a Glance / 74, 76, 78

6 DECEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL

EditorShawn Dorman: [email protected]

Managing EditorSusan Brady Maitra: [email protected]

Associate EditorDebra Blome: [email protected]

Editorial/Publications SpecialistBrittany DeLong: [email protected]

Ad & Circulation ManagerEd Miltenberger: [email protected]

Art DirectorCaryn Suko Smith

Editorial InternTrevor Smith

Advertising InternsAllan Saunders, Heajin Sarah Kim

Contributing EditorSteven Alan Honley

Editorial BoardJim DeHart, ChairmanHon. Gordon S. BrownStephen W. BuckRuth Hall Maria C. LivingstonRichard McKeeBeth PayneJohn G. Rendeiro Jr.Duncan WalkerTracy WhittingtonClayton Bond (AFSA Governing Board liaison)

THE MAGAZINE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS PROFESSIONALSThe Foreign Service Journal (ISSN 0146-3543), 2101 E Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20037-2990 is pub-lished monthly, with combined January-February and July-August issues, by the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), a private, nonprofit organization. Material appearing herein represents the opinions of the writers and does not necessarily represent the views of the Journal, the Editorial Board or AFSA. Writer queries and submissions are invited, preferably by email. The Journal is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photos or illustrations. Advertising inquiries are invited. All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. AFSA reserves the right to reject advertising that is not in keeping with its standards and objectives. The appear-ance of advertisements herein does not imply endorse-ment of goods or services o¢ered. Opinions expressed in advertisements are the views of the advertisers and do not necessarily represent AFSA views or policy. Journal subscription: AFSA member–$20, included in annual dues; student–$30; institution–$40; others–$50; Single issue–$4.50. For foreign surface mail, add $18 per year; foreign airmail, $36 per year. Periodical postage paid at Washington, D.C., and at additional mailing o�ces. Indexed by the Public A¢airs Information Services (PAIS).

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PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

Postmaster: Send address changes to AFSAAttn: Address Change2101 E Street NWWashington DC 20037-2990

AFSA Headquarters: (202) 338-4045; Fax (202) 338-6820

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USAID AFSA O�ce: (202) 712-1941; Fax (202) 216-3710

FCS AFSA O�ce: (202) 482-9088; Fax (202) 482-9087

GOVERNING BOARDPresident Robert J. Silverman: [email protected] Angela Dickey: [email protected] Hon. Charles A. Ford: [email protected] Vice President Matthew K. Asada: [email protected] Vice President Sharon Wayne: [email protected] Vice President Steve Morrison: [email protected] Vice President David Mergen: [email protected] Vice President Lawrence Cohen: lawrencecohenassociates@

hotmail.comState Representatives Clayton Bond Ronnie Catipon Todd Crawford Chuck Fee Neeru Lal Ken Kero-Mentz Ronita Macklin Elise Mellinger Homeyra Mokhtarzada Nancy Rios-Brooks Sue SaarnioUSAID Representatives Jeri Dible Andrew LevinFCS Representative William KutsonFAS Representative Mark PetryBBG Representative Andre de NesneraAPHIS Representative Mark C. PrescottRetiree Representatives Marshall Adair Hon. David Greenlee F. Allen “Tex” Harris Hon. Edward Marks

STAFFExecutive Director

Ian Houston: [email protected] Assistant to the President

Patrick Bradley: [email protected]

BUSINESS DEPARTMENTDirector of Finance

Femi Oshobukola: [email protected]

Kalpna Srimal: [email protected] Controller

Cory Nishi: [email protected]

LABOR MANAGEMENTGeneral Counsel

Sharon Papp: [email protected] General Counsel

Zlatana Badrich: [email protected] Management Specialist

James Yorke: [email protected] Sta� Attorney

Neera Parikh: [email protected]� Attorney

Raeka Safai: [email protected]� Attorney

Andrew Large: [email protected] Management Counselor

Colleen Fallon-Lenaghan: [email protected]

Labor Management Assistant Jason Snyder: [email protected]

Executive Assistant Lindsey Botts: [email protected]

USAID Senior Labor Management Adviser Douglas Broome: [email protected]

USAID Sta� Assistant Chioma Dike: [email protected]

MEMBER SERVICESMember Services Director

Janet Hedrick: [email protected] Representative

VACANTRetiree Counselor

Todd Thurwachter: [email protected], Retiree Counseling

and Legislation Matthew Sumrak: [email protected]

Administrative Assistant and O�ce Manager Ana Lopez: [email protected]

COMMUNICATIONSDirector of Communications

Kristen Fernekes: [email protected] of New Media

Ásgeir Sigfússon: [email protected] Manager

Shawn Dorman: [email protected] Communications Specialist

Je¢ Lau: [email protected] Awards and Outreach Coordinator

Perri Green: [email protected] Bureau Director

VACANT

ADVOCACYAdvocacy Director

Javier Cuebas: [email protected] Legislative Assistant

David Murimi: [email protected] Issues and Policy Adviser

Janice Weiner: [email protected]

SCHOLARSHIPSScholarship Director

Lori Dec: [email protected] Assistant

Jonathan Crawford: [email protected]

FOREIGN SERVICE

CONT

ACTS

www.afsa.org

56 DECEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL

EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT

Just as your high school

student begins his senior

year, guess what pops up on

the newsstand? �at’s right;

it’s the U.S. News & World

Report annual special issue

of America’s top colleges.

Started 30 years ago, this list of ranked

colleges has become a huge phenomenon

among high school seniors, their parents,

alumni, and the colleges and universities

themselves. Although newer lists now

exist, published by Washington Monthly

and others, the U.S. News rankings are still

the most popular.

But how helpful are they? Let’s take

them apart to see how they work. �en

we’ll look at some alternative lists of U.S.

colleges that may be more useful in �nd-

ing the right school.

Francesca Kelly is a freelance writer, editor and college application tutor. She served as AFSA

News editor from 2009 to 2012 and is a frequent contributor to the Journal. She is married to

Ambassador Ian Kelly, an FSO since 1985.

published, it has become enormously

successful, and U.S. News has expanded

rankings to include high schools, graduate

schools and other institutions, as well as a

new “Best Global Universities” list. �eir

Education Web page receives 30 million

visits per month.

U.S. News o�ers a list of about 1,800

colleges and universities, which constitute

roughly half of the total number of higher

learning institutions in the United States.

�ese are divided into four categories:

• National liberal arts colleges

• National universities

• Regional colleges (North, South,

Midwest and West)

• Regional universities (North, South,

Midwest and West)

What’s In the U.S. News Ranking?

�e following factors go into deter-

mining a college’s score, and hence, its

ranking. Each factor’s weight is given as a

U.S. News & World Report’s Golden Egg

U.S. News began ranking colleges back

in 1983, based on a simple questionnaire

sent to college presidents asking which

colleges they considered “the best.” In

1987, the publication became a stand-

alone, annual issue of the magazine, and

colleges began to take notice and demand

more objective methodology. U.S. News

then expanded its opinion survey to

include deans and administrators, and

added criteria such as SAT scores of appli-

cants and the colleges’ retention rates.

Over the years, the magazine’s editors

have met regularly with college o�cials,

guidance counselors and others in an

e�ort to respond to criticism, revise their

methodology and expand their market.

Since the “Best Colleges” list was �rst

American College Rankings

HOW THEY WORK AND WHAT THEY MEAN

This in-depth look at U.S. college rankings o�ers a fresh perspective on the high school student’s college search and a wealth of resources to help find the “right” school.

B Y F R A N C E S C A K E L LY

58 DECEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL

EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT

percentage of the score.

Academic Reputation (22.5 per-cent). �is is based on peer assessment,

with surveys collecting data from college

administrators and faculty, as well as high

school guidance counselors.

Retention (22.5 percent). Eighty per-

cent of this factor is based on the six-year

graduation rate, and 20 percent on the

freshman retention rate.

Faculty Resources (20 percent). One of the most complicated factors in

determining rank, this comprises several

components: average class size and

faculty salaries, as well as student-faculty

ratio, highest degree in �eld, etc.

Student Selectivity (12.5 percent). Also using multifaceted methodology,

student selectivity incorporates SAT and

ACT scores for an entering freshman class

(65 percent), as well as class rank, with

a higher standard for national than for

regional entities. �e acceptance rate is

also a factor in selectivity.

Financial Resources (10 percent).�is is not about how much money a col-

lege has, but how much it spends on each

student for instruction, research and stu-

dent services. Spi�y dorms and Olympic-

sized swimming pools don’t factor into

this measurement.

Graduation Rate Performance (7.5 percent). �is is a relatively new factor,

only in its second year. What this spe-

ci�cally measures is a class’s actual rate

of graduation compared to what was

predicted for that class six years earlier.

Students’ test scores and �nancial aid are

factored into the equation, since these have

an e�ect on the timeliness of graduation.

Alumni Giving Rate (5 percent). �is

is considered an indication of alumni

satisfaction.

The success of the U.S. News rankings has spawned other ranking indexes from other publications, news entities and college-related organizations.

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Colleges that choose not to take part

in the rankings may still end up on the

list: U.S. News footnotes them as “non-

responders,” but gathers data on them

from other sources, including the Ameri-

can Association of University Professors,

the National Collegiate Athletic Associa-

tion, the Council for Aid to Education

and the U.S. Department of Education’s

National Center for Education Statistics.

Other College Rankings�e success of the U.S. News rank-

ings has spawned other ranking indexes

from other publications, news entities

and college-related organizations. And,

of course, college guidebooks like Fiske,

Peterson, Princeton Review and others

that have been around for decades are

now online, as well. Here is a selection of

some of those resources. Varying widely

in methodology and focus, they are listed

alphabetically.

Fiske is available as a printed guide-

book and also as a useful college search

website where you can search colleges by

di�erent categories and do a self-survey to

help narrow down choices.

Forbes has ranked colleges using a

methodology that is based more on out-

comes than on applicant quali�cations.

Calling the U.S. News rankings “abstract”

and “wasteful,” Forbes’ list is centered on

return on investment, with student satis-

faction and post-graduate success among

the biggest factors.

Kiplinger focuses its attention on “best

value” institutions, divided into private

universities, private liberal arts colleges

and public universities. �ere are charts

detailing average amount of debt after

graduation by school, for example.

Money Magazine recently introduced

rankings that measure which schools give

you the most bang for your tuition buck,

focusing on quality of education, a�ord-

ability and outcomes.

�e New York Times’ Upshot section

ventured into alternative college rankings

earlier this year, focusing on colleges that

enroll students who are economically

diverse.

Niche’s education portion of their

website (formerly College Prowler) offers

rankings that are based on student assess-

ments and cover a variety of factors.

Peterson’s has been providing college

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2014 61

From the FSJ Education Supplement June 2014

The Revamped SAT: A Much-Needed Overhaul or Cosmetic Surgery?B Y F R A N C E S C A H U E M E R K E L LY

If you’re a student, a parent or even a grandparent, most likely you’ve encountered the SAT. For much of its century-long

existence, this multiple-choice test that aims to assess academic readiness for higher education has been one of the keys to college admission.

While a student’s high school grade-point average is still the most important part of the college application, colleges also use SAT results in evaluating applicants.

Once called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, then the Scholastic Assessment Test, it’s now simply the SAT™. For decades a two-part (Reading and Mathematics) test, the SAT incorporated a mandatory Writing section in 2005.

Recently, the College Board, the nonprofit corporation that oversees the SAT, announced that the biggest revamp in its history will be implemented in the spring of 2016. The SAT will reflect more of what is actually being learned in America’s schools, and the College Board will make test preparation accessible to stu-dents of all income levels.

Here are the details:• The entire process will be more transparent. The College

Board is moving away from using obscure texts, tricky questions and unfamiliar vocabulary.

• The writing portion will become optional, and scoring will return to its pre-2005 potential total of 1,600 rather than 2,400. Each of the two required sections, Evidence-Based Reading

and Writing, and Math, will o�er the traditional score range of 200-800. The optional essay score will be added separately. The optional essay will require more text-based analysis than in the past.

• Vocabulary words will be more familiar, less arcane. The College Board stresses that the test will emphasize a student’s interpretation of the meaning of the word in context.

• America’s important founding documents and meaningful texts will be used as a part of every SAT exam.

• The Mathematics section will be more focused, drawing from fewer math sub-genres. The College Board has renamed the three subsections of the Math component “Problem-Solving and Data Analysis,” “The Heart of Algebra” and “Passport to Advanced Math.” The focus will be on real-life math skills such as calculating percentages and ratios, along with a few representative geometry and trigonometry questions.

• Wrong answers will no longer be penalized. • Free SAT test preparation will be available immediately

through a joint venture with the Khan Academy.

Francesca Huemer Kelly, a Foreign Service spouse, is a writer and college essay tutor living in Highland Park, Illinois. She writes frequently on education issues and is a former editor of AFSA News. To see the complete article, including a resources list, go to www.afsa.org/education

62 DECEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL

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search information for a long time, and

its website o�ers practical college search

tools, such as colleges listed by geography

and major.

Princeton Review has a list for every-

thing: best campus food, best professors,

etc. Both their books and their website are

student-oriented.

Washington Monthly came up with

alternative rankings a few years ago, tout-

ing a list that “asks not what colleges can

do for you, but what colleges are doing

for the country.” Washington Monthly’s

website states: “We rate schools based on

their contribution to the public good in

three broad categories: Social Mobility

(recruiting and graduating low-income

students), Research (producing cutting-

edge scholarship and Ph.D.s) and Service

(encouraging students to give something

back to their country).” �is year, they also

included a list of worst colleges.

Wintergreen Orchard House, one of

the main compilers of statistics for institu-

tions of higher learning, is a destination

for data-heads and guidance counselors

who want a complete library of college

data and statistics.

What About Global Rankings?In late October, U.S. News released a

new ranking index of the 500 top univer-

sities worldwide. Although many of the

criteria used in the methodology remain

subjective, such as “global reputation,”

some of the U.S.-centric factors simply do

not work when ranking schools in other

countries, often because data such as

selectivity are not measured by foreign

universities.

U.S. News relied heavily on �omson-

Reuters’ Academic Reputation Survey,

which measures such factors as number of

Although the media are making a fuss over the new U.S. News global rankings, London-based Times Higher Education has also been ranking global universities for years.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2014 63

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doctorates awarded, number of publica-

tions from faculty, etc.

Interestingly, while Princeton often

gets the sought-after number one spot on

the U.S. rankings list, Harvard came out on

top in this index, followed by three more

U.S. institutions: Massachusetts Institute

of Technology, Berkeley and Stanford.

Oxford and Cambridge are also in the top

10, as well as Caltech, UCLA, the Univer-

sity of Chicago and Columbia University.

Because research and publications are

heavily weighted, small American liberal

arts colleges don’t stand much of a chance

of getting ranked here.

Perusing this list may be of value to the

Foreign Service dependent who wants to

expand his or her educational opportuni-

ties beyond the United States. It also spot-

lights those American universities that

may have a better reputation worldwide.

Although the media are making a fuss

over the new U.S. News global rankings,

London-based Times Higher Education

has also been ranking global universities

for years. Seven out of the top 10 schools

on their list are American universities.

Sound familiar? Note that its reliance

on Thomson-Reuters for data means that

the U.S. News’ new global list is more or

less identical to the THE list. Other lesser-

known lists of global universities can be

found online, as well.

Putting Rankings in PerspectiveSo you live overseas, and you’ve got

to narrow down your choices for col-

lege without a whole lot of knowledge.

Wouldn’t college ranking indexes be a

good place to start?

�e answer is a very quali�ed yes, as

long as you understand that rankings are

only a small part of a much bigger picture.

Mona Molarsky, an education and arts

writer who also counsels students as the

online “College Strategist”explains: “Col-

lege rankings are mostly used by people

who aren’t very familiar with the edu-

cational landscape in the United States.

If you consult these rankings with the

understanding that the numbers are really

just crude, ballpark estimates, you can get

a general idea of a school’s reputation.”

Molarsky admits that using the rank-

ings as a basis for comparison between

schools might encourage a student to “dig

further,” but cautions against taking the

From the FSJ Education Supplement December 2013

The Revised Common AppB Y F R A N C E S C A K E L LY

The Common Application, or “Common App” (www.common app.org), was designed 35 years ago by a group of 15 col-

leges as a way to streamline the American college application process. Since then, it has grown steadily in popularity each year, and more than 520 member institutions now utilize the application. A tool like the Common App makes sense: appli-cations to colleges have increased exponentially in the past decade; today most high school seniors apply to seven or more schools.

These struggles may occur early in a child’s devThe new Common App includes the following sections, each of which can be filled out online and saved until the application is complete:

■ Profile (contacts, demographics, geography)■ Family (household, parent/guardian, siblings)■ Education (current school, history, academics)■ Testing (results of college entrance and other exams)■ Activities (10 slots maximum, a new limitation)■ Essay (250-650 words in answer to one of five questions,

or “prompts”)■ Explanations (a way to explain disciplinary actions, crimi-

nal activity or interruption of education)■ Additional Information (optional, where you can provide

information not covered in the rest of the application)

■ College Page One (general information needed by the col-leges you are applying to. There will be one of these pages for each of your colleges.)

■ College Page Two (an additional writing supplement if required by your selected colleges)

Although the Common App has been o�ered online since 1996, until this year it was also available in paper form for those who eschewed the online process. But the current (2013–2014) application season marks the start of a paperless, completely Web-based process.

With this change have come a number of other changes to the application. Of these, the most important are in the new Writing section, including revised prompts and a more generous essay word length.

That’s the good news. Unfortunately, the new Common App is also full of glitches—some merely inconvenient, others more serious. More about those later. …

Francesca Kelly, a Foreign Service spouse, is a writer and col-lege essay application tutor who writes frequently on education issues. She is a former editor of AFSA News. To see the complete article, with detailed pointers for FS students in particular, go to www.afsa.org/education

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2014 65

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rank of any particular college seriously:

“Should you base your college decision

on the fact that U.S. News ranked Williams

College #1 among national liberal arts col-

leges this year, while they ranked Haver-

ford College #8? Absolutely not.”

Many experts agree that rankings

or “top college” lists are probably not a

good way to make a college decision, and

some believe they are, in fact, harmful. In

a recent article in Forbes (yes, the same

magazine that publishes its own college

rankings), writer Andrew Kelly explains

that colleges can manipulate their stand-

ing in the rankings by raising tuition and

rejecting more applicants, thus making

them more selective.

He adds: “As long as we continue to

de�ne ‘the best colleges’ as those that

enroll the best students—as opposed to

those that teach their students the most

or deliver the best return on investment—

rankings competition will do little to

expand educational opportunity.”

Lies, Darn Lies, and StatisticsColleges can manipulate rankings in

many ways—some ethical, some not. For

example, if a college wait-lists applicants

whom they would ordinarily accept but

are not sure will attend, those students will

not count as “accepted students” unless

they decide to enroll.

As a result, the “percentage of accepted

students who enroll” statistic, also known

as yield, which is used by many indexes,

stays high for that college. Every college

wants to be considered its students’ top

choice, after all.

Other ways of manipulating statistics

over the years have included o�ering

One way the rankings can be helpful is to allow students to compare their transcripts and admissions test scores with those of the “typical student” at a certain university.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2014 67

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THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2014 69

incentives to admitted students to retake

SATs to get a higher score; not admitting

students with lower scores until later in

the year after data is submitted; and, of

course, encouraging as many students

as possible to apply, even if they have no

hope of being admitted, simply so the

school can reject more of them, upping

its selectivity.

Some schools have been found to

conveniently “leave out” SAT and other

admission test scores of their interna-

tional applicants, as non-native English

speakers tend to do poorly on these

tests. Other schools have reported as an

applicant anyone who had completed

even part of their application, even if that

student never actually applied.

When colleges have been discovered

to have deliberately falsi�ed data, as

Claremont-McKenna did a few years

ago, they have been “punished” by being

left o� the list for a year. In the latest

U.S. News “Best Colleges” list, Clare-

mont-McKenna is back, with a coveted

number-eight ranking among national

liberal arts colleges.

Even though U.S. News and other

ranking indexes rely on independent

data services to a certain extent, most of

the data they receive is from the colleges

themselves. Flagler College in Florida is

the latest college among a growing list to

have admitted to in�ating data such as

SAT scores for the U.S. News rankings.

The Pressure of RankAs mentioned earlier, some colleges

have chosen not to take part in ranking

indexes. Reed College is perhaps the

most notable, yet U.S. News still ranks it

#77 of national liberal arts colleges, based

on data gathered elsewhere—a rank

some experts feel is meaningless. (Reed

provides its own data on its website.)

But most colleges do take part in at

70 DECEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL

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least some ranking indexes, devoting

time and resources to �ll out surveys and

questionnaires from data-compiling agen-

cies. As cumbersome as it is to participate,

opting out may hurt a college or univer-

sity’s standing in the rankings, or even

disqualify them altogether.

In fact, not answering just one question

can keep a school from getting a rank.

Kristin McKinley, associate director of

research administration at Lawrence Uni-

versity, a small liberal arts college on the

banks of the Fox River in leafy Appleton,

Wisconsin, explains: “For a school to be

ranked in U.S. News Best Colleges (2015

edition), there was a single question deter-

mining eligibility: Does your institution

make use of SAT, ACT or SAT Subject Test

scores in admission decisions for �rst-

time, �rst-year, degree-seeking applicants?

A school that answered ‘no’ was listed as

‘Unranked.’”

Because methodology varies among

ranking entities, some colleges fare better

with one index than with another. For

example, among the data collected by

many ranking indexes, graduation rate

is perhaps the most common factor and

tends to be weighted the highest.

“Yet even this �gure varies based on

type and calculation,” says McKinley. “At

our institution, we focus on a six-year rate,

given we have a double-degree program

and many of our students have more than

one major.”

In other words, if a ranking index uses

a four-year rather than a six-year gradu-

ation rate, it would tend to work against

a school that o�ers double majors or

combined degree programs.

What’s Missing? “College rankings are poor guides

with regard to the one thing that should

really matter: Will this particular student

�nd this school to be an optimal learning

environment? No ranking can answer

that question,” argues George Leef, direc-

tor of research for the John William Pope

Center for Higher Education.

Decrying the idea of “elite” schools

that appear to o�er a better education

than schools low on the ranking list, Leef

points out that many students learn more

and better at small colleges whose profes-

sors are more dedicated to teaching than

to big-name research.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2014 71

Indeed, there are certain components

to a successful college experience that are

not going to appear in ranking indexes:

for example, mentoring opportunities,

whether the college is a “commuter

school” and empties out on weekends,

or is near or in a city with a rich cultural

environment.

Factors that are especially important

for Foreign Service kids, such as how close

the college is to stateside relatives, the cost

of overseas airfare and how many interna-

tional students there are on campus don’t

show up in a ranking. Yet these are vital

issues; they require more research than

just looking at a number on a list.

What’s Good about Rankings?According to Northwestern University

Associate Provost for University Enroll-

ment Michael Mills, ranking indexes can

be useful “if they measure meaningful

aspects of the undergraduate experience,

and are used in conjunction with all the

sources of information about individual

colleges.”

Determining which experiences are

meaningful is up to the individual, but

Mills posits that they may include “small

class sizes, academic credentials of enter-

ing freshmen (learning from peers) and

success rates (retention and graduation

rates).”

One way the rankings can be helpful is

to allow students to compare their tran-

scripts and admissions test scores with

those of the “typical” student at a certain

university. �at will give a clearer idea of

their chances of admission.

Students can also use the lists as a

jumping-o� point, and then �nd the spe-

ci�c indexes, using the sites listed above

and others, to assess factors like geography,

size or speci�c programs in certain majors.

Reading guidebooks and using websites

such as About.com’s college search sec-

72 DECEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL

EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT

tion allow a student to delve deeper than

simply perusing single lists of college

rankings.

On Prestige For better or for worse, in some circles

there is still importance attached to pres-

tige. Going to a “name” school, or at least

one that most people have heard of, may

open certain doors, and students need to

consider that.

Yes, we all know there are plenty

of wonderful colleges out there where

students get a fabulous education. But

if prestige is important to a student,

then the rankings do show what college

administrators regard as the most elite

institutions.

Yet prestige isn’t everything. Loren

Pope, author of Colleges �at Change

Lives, and Washington Post educa-

tion columnist Jay Mathews, author of

Harvard Schmarvard, have argued along

with others that a college’s name is not

enough to guarantee a good education,

or at least, the right education for every

individual.

Pope’s very popular Colleges �at

Change Lives inspired the nonpro�t

organization by the same name. CTCL

is dedicated to the advancement and

support of a student-centered college

search process. Founded in 1998, it hosts

information sessions nationwide and

coordinates outreach e�orts with high

school counselors and college coun-

seling agencies to educate families on

the importance of understanding an

individual student’s needs and how they

“�t” with the mission and identity of a

particular college community.

�e CTCL website provides valuable

information, news and resources on cur-

rent issues in higher education, as well

as common misperceptions about the

college search process.

Says one Foreign Service parent

whose child went to a Virginia public

university, “I went to a ‘name’ school,

basically hated it, lived on bagels and

ramen, worked 20-plus hours a week the

entire time, and came out of it in debt.”

And parent Victoria Hess, whose son

Andrew attended the University of Wyo-

ming (ranked #161 on the U.S. News list of

national universities), says, “To gradu-

ate, he had to pass a rigorous national

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2014 73

engineering exam. He would have had

to pass the same exam at Johns Hopkins

(ranked #12), where he also was accepted,

but which he rejected due to cost. And

at Wyoming, Andrew found a mentor—

someone who really cared about him.”

Are Rankings Changing?In a 2013 speech at the State Uni-

versity of New York-Buffalo, President

Barack Obama declared a crisis in college

a�ordability and the need for restructur-

ing, including a new ratings system for

colleges based on return on investment.

Washington Monthly, which started

“alternative” rankings in 2005, immedi-

ately welcomed this news as in line with

their own philosophy.

�e trend toward value for money in

college ranking indexes is on the upswing.

Washington Monthly’s methodology, for

example, favors more public institutions

than elite private ones, and applauds

colleges like Berea College, which awards

every admitted student a scholarship

covering tuition.

Other college rankings indexes are

starting to shift their focus to value of

investment, as well. And why shouldn’t

they, when college expenses run into

the tens, even hundreds of thousands of

dollars?

For that reason and others, choosing

a college is generally the �rst major deci-

sion a young adult makes. And it’s a very

personal decision. A short glance over

the rankings can be helpful. But you can

lose perspective quickly and buy into the

too-prevalent idea that an “elite” college

is the only worthwhile place for your

education.

As college strategist Molarsky says,

“It’s important to take all these numbers

with a big grain of salt, because it’s really

impossible to quantify the quality of an

education.” n